


dancing the same dance for eight years

by flowersandsunshine



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Aged Up, Almost no drama because I don't need that in my life, F/M, Fake Dating, Fluff, IDENTITY SHENANIGANS, Identity Reveal, Mentions of Sex, Pining, and roommates, implied Chloe Bourgeois/Kagami Tsurugi, they're in college now
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2020-07-12 08:21:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19943089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flowersandsunshine/pseuds/flowersandsunshine
Summary: Adrien is upset when Marinette announces she's entering a fake relationship with Nathaniel. He's not going to bring it up--Marinette is just being a good friend to Nath, after all--until after their fake relationship ends.Really, it's okay. He'll be okay.(Aged-Up, College-Aged, Roommates, Fake Dating, all that good stuff)





	dancing the same dance for eight years

**Author's Note:**

> really, this is just fluff. i just needed it out of my system. 
> 
> uhh i literally wrote this up and then posted it immediately so..... all errors are mine and i will claim them proudly etc etc 
> 
> enjoy xo

“And I agreed, because I thought it would be funny, so if anyone asks, he and I have been dating for, like, two months now, okay?” Marinette shoved her shoulder up against Adrien’s and grinned. “You’ll keep my secret, right?” 

Adrien frowned, glancing down at his best friend. He and Marinette had gotten closer over the years, even becoming roommates in university, and he loved her, but this was one of the stupidest things he had ever seen her do. “Wait, what?” he asked. “Repeat all of that?” 

Marinette sighed, slowing to a step. She shifted her books from one arm to the other. 

Adrien watched as her biceps flexed to accommodate the sudden weight. Holy hell, but she was strong… 

“Nathaniel is going to Chloe’s party this weekend,” she said slowly, “and Marc is going to be there, and Nath didn’t want to look totally lame, like, he hadn’t gotten over him or anything, and he knows that Marc knows that he liked me forever, so he wondered if we could pretend to be dating so he didn’t look like…. you know. Like Nath has been pining over Marc all this time. He wanted it to look like he had moved on.” 

“And you said yes,” Adrien said. 

“Yeah.” She shrugged. 

He frowned and shifted restlessly from one foot to another. “Hmm,” he hummed non-committedly. 

“And I know you’re going to be there, and Marc might ask you about it, and I wanted you to know the cover story in advance so you didn’t get caught unawares.” Marinette started walking again, not waiting for him to catch up as she strode past him confidently. 

“Oh,” he said, stumbling as he turned to walk with her. Steadying himself, Adrien frowned. He felt like… like someone was squeezing his chest. “What the hell,” he muttered under his breath. 

Marinette shot him a glance and frowned as she slowed down. “Adrien… you okay?” 

He just frowned. 

She just looked at him for a bit before grabbing his hand and tugging on it a little bit. “When we get home, you’re going to sit with your head between your knees,” she said. “You look like you’re going to pass out.”

“Yeah,” he said quietly. “Home.” 

She just frowned again and marched towards their apartment on the edge of the university campus. 

Adrien bit his lip, careful not the break the skin—years of training didn’t allow him to mar his own skin in any way—and felt his eyebrows come together as he worried through these horrible feelings that were bubbling up in his throat, desperate to escape through his mouth. 

‘I don’t want you to fake date anyone’

‘I’m worried that you’re going to get hurt’

‘I know I’ll get hurt if I see you with someone else’

‘I love you I love you I love you I love’

Adrien swallowed and sniffed. “Yeah, I need to sit down.”

She just nodded at him and picked up her pace, dragging them home with determination. 

\---  
“Bro,” Nino said, his voice dry over the phone. “You’re upset that Marinette is helping a friend out?” 

Adrien groaned and rolled over on his bed, pushing his face into his pillows. 

“Sorry, dude, can’t hear you,” Nino said. 

“I just…” Adrien lifted his head, running a hand over his face. “I don’t want to see them acting all couple-y and stuff. I don’t know if I can handle that, Nino. God, I… I should have said something to her before all of this went down.”

“No shit,” Nino said. Adrien could imagine the eye roll that accompanied his words. “But now that it’s too late, and she’s going to help Nath out, do you think you can be mature for a little bit and just… maybe have fun at the party and then say something to her? I know you. You’re a dumb romantic and you’re going to try to romance her at this party. Don’t.”

Adrien frowned. “No, I wouldn’t.”

“Bro.”

He sighed. “Yeah, I might. But I’ll be mature or whatever, I guess.”

“Good.” Nino sounded pleased. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to go talk to my girlfriend. Because I have a girlfriend. Because I actually told her I liked her.”

“No, you didn’t,” Adrien said. He sat up and grinned. “You were just lucky enough to get trapped by Ladybug that day. Otherwise, who knows if you would have ever said anything?” 

“Shut up,” Nino said cheerfully. “Hey, remember how I was actually chasing Marinette that day? How the turn tables.”

Adrien froze. “Oh, my god, has everyone liked Marinette?” 

“Yeah. You might be one of the lucky ones, though.” Nino paused. “After the party.”

“After the party,” Adrien agreed. 

“After the party what?” 

With a strangled shout, Adrien abruptly hung up on Nino and threw his phone across the room. “I wasn’t doing anything!” he exclaimed, hands up in the air. 

Marinette was standing in the entryway to his room. She raised an eyebrow at him before going over to pick up his phone, inspecting it for damage. “Congratulations, Adrien,” she said. “You’re one of the lucky ones.”

Adrien felt his face flush red from his neck all the way to the roots of his hair, radiating heat. “I-I am?” he asked. 

She held out his phone towards him. “No damage.”

He felt like his heart was about to explode out of his chest. “Oh. Th-thanks,” he managed to squeak out as he took his phone back. 

She frowned before gingerly sitting on the edge of his bed. “What’s going on with you lately?” she asked. “You’ve been acting weird for a few months now, but it’s been especially bad the past couple of days.” Her eyes widened. “Did I do something?” 

“What? N-no!” he exclaimed, sitting up straighter as he shook his head vehemently. “No, of course not. No, I… Classes have been hard and I’m not sleeping and work has been hard.” All true. None of them the actual problem. 

“Do you think your dad would lessen your work load if you asked?” 

He smiled at that as he took in her sweet face, so earnest as she tried to find ways to take care of him. “Probably. I could ask, at least.”

“Okay.” She nodded and stood up. “Um, I was just coming in to tell you that I’m heading to class. I’ll see you for dinner tonight, though?” 

He nodded. “Um, Marinette?” 

She turned back towards him and smiled. “Yeah?” 

“Do you want takeout tonight?” 

She raised an eyebrow. “Breaking your diet?” 

He shrugged. “Why not?” 

Marinette laughed. “Good. It’s okay to take care of yourself sometimes, you know.” Her smile was warm as she leaned over, tousling his hair affectionately. “Takeout sounds great. You know what I like.” 

He beamed at her as she left. 

When he heard the front door close, he flopped back onto his bed, willing his face to stop being so red. 

“You’re an idiot, you know,” Plagg said, floating into view as he cradled a piece of cheese in his arms. 

“Yeah, I know,” he said. “What am I an idiot about this time?” 

Rolling his eyes, the little kwami spun in the air a few times. “That girl loves you as much as you love her.” He gagged slightly. “Oh, gross, I’m giving love advice.”

Adrien smiled. “That’s actually really sweet, Plagg.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Just don’t come crying about it to me when you know you could just ask her out and it would be absolutely fine.” Swallowing his cheese, Plagg zipped into a different room, leaving Adrien alone with his thoughts. 

\---  
“Alright, it’s show time,” Marinette said, bouncing on her toes a little bit in excitement. 

Adrien grimaced in what he hoped looked like a convincing smile as he pulled Chloe’s door open for her. He held it open as Marinette went in, stepping in himself after he had collected his emotions. 

He felt his stomach drop as Marinette glanced around in awe, her huge blue eyes lit up as she surveyed the room. 

“Beautiful,” he murmured, smiling slightly as she glanced around. 

“Yeah, it is,” she said back quietly. Her eyes met his and she smiled. “Chloe’s outdone herself this time.”

Adrien forced himself to look away from her to look around the room. There were fairy lights everywhere he looked, framing gold and silver accents and deep jewel tones in the fabrics around the room. The mirrors Chloe had artistically placed around the room only caused it to look much bigger than the room actually was, and there were ferns in pots sprinkled tastefully around the room. 

“This might be the least extravagant decorating she’s ever done,” Adrien said. 

“And the most beautiful,” Marinette said. She slipped her coat off, hanging it up on the coat rack. “I’m going to go find Nath.”

Adrien gave her a thumbs up as he took off his own coat. 

“Adrikins,” he heard a voice say. 

Adrien turned and smiled warmly at his childhood friend. “Hey, Chlo,” he said. 

She gave him a brief hug before pulling back and arching an eyebrow. “Adrien Agreste,” she said in a demanding voice. “Where have you been? I’ve been trying to hang out with you for weeks now and you’ve been putting it off.”

He shrugged. “School and work and social life doesn’t work out, Chloe. I had to drop one of them.”

“I manage,” she sniffed. 

He smiled. “You’re a force of nature.”

“I even do my superhero work. Four things, Agreste.” She held up her perfectly manicured hand, four fingers up. “You can’t do three?” 

He shrugged again. “Sorry.”

“Whatever.” Looping her arm through his, Chloe led him towards the middle of the room. “I’m glad you’re here. Honestly.”

“I know.” Adrien nudged her with his elbow. “I’m glad I’m here, too.”

“Even though you have to watch this atrocity of a fake relationship?” Chloe asked, pointing to her left.

Adrien’s head whipped around and he winced when Marinette and Nathaniel came into view. They were sitting together on the couch, holding hands. Marinette’s head was on Nath’s shoulder. “Um, you know it’s…”

“Not real?” Chloe flipped her hair over her shoulder. “Everyone knows. Trust me, nobody was happy when Marc dumped Nath, so we’re all helping him fake the relationship with Dupain-Cheng. Doesn’t mean it isn’t sickening, though.”

Adrien laughed, a little breathless. “Yeah.”

She glanced up at him, her eyes narrowed. 

Adrien instinctively moved a little bit away from her. 

“You still like her?” 

He nodded. 

Chloe pursed her lips. “You planning on telling her any time soon?” 

“Dude, that’s what I told him to do,” Nino said, suddenly appearing behind Chloe’s shoulder. 

Adrien jumped, his instincts telling him to fight. Years as Chat Noir made him much more jumpy than he had been as a child. “Oh, hey,” he said in a strangled voice. 

“Hi,” Nino said. “Have you seen Alya? She said something about going to see a friend and I haven’t seen her in a while.”

“She and Kagami are gossiping in the greenhouse,” Chloe said. 

“Thanks,” Nino said. He leaned over and gripped Adrien’s shoulder. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

Adrien shrugged. “Okay.”

Nino grinned and disappeared again as suddenly as he had appeared. 

“I hate when he does that,” Adrien said, his heart still beating furiously. 

“Hmm,” Chloe nodded. “I can imagine that you do.”

Adrien had suspected for a while that Chloe knew his superhero identity, but he was never sure. He drummed his fingers against his leg, nodding for no reason. “Yeah.”

“Yeah.” She grinned at him. “Come on, let’s go drink.”

He laughed and followed her as she led him off, letting his gaze flick towards Marinette one more time. 

She was leaning up to plant a kiss on Nath’s cheek, surrounding by all their old friends from school, including Marc. 

Adrien swallowed and turned his head, blocking them all from his point of view as he trailed after Chloe. 

\---

“Hi,” Marinette said, bouncing into the kitchen where Adrien had been sitting for a while. “I think it’s going super well.”

“Hmm.” He glanced up at her before looking back down at his phone, scrolling through social media endlessly. 

“Hey.” She sat across from him at the little dining room table. “Hey, Adrien.” 

He looked at her again. “Yeah?” 

She looked concerned. “You’re still acting weird. Tired?” She eyed his glass. “Um… inebriated?” 

“Maybe a little of both?” Adrien sighed, pushing his glass away. “Kind of wish I was at home.” 

“We could probably leave soon.” Marinette took his glass and took a sip, making a face. “Oh, gross. Who mixed this?” 

“Juleka,” he said. “Said it had a bit of a kick.”

“It had a lot of a kick,” she said. “I can’t believe you drank that.”

“Not all of it, you’ll notice.”

She smiled before frowning again. “Seriously. Are you okay?” 

He shrugged, closing his eyes to briefly block out the light. “I don’t know. I was having fun but Chloe went to hang out with Kagami, and then Alya and Nino left, so I’ve just been sitting in here for a while. And now I have a headache. And now I’m whining to you when you should be with your boyfriend, so…” 

He jumped and then immediately relaxed when he felt a small hand slip into his, squeezing his hand. 

“Oh, we aren’t dating anymore,” Marinette said. 

Adrien’s eyes flew open and he trained them on her face. She was smiling. “What?”

“Marc and Nath made up. I think there might be something between them still. Again. I don’t know. We’ve agreed to end it on pleasant terms.” Marinette was clearly fighting to control her smile. “Shortest fake relationship I’ve ever had.” 

Adrien laughed suddenly. “Only fake relationship you’ve ever had.” 

“True.” She sighed, leaning down on the table. “Now I’m kind of tired, honestly. I wouldn’t mind going home.” She glanced up at him, her head still resting on the table. “If you want to go home, that is.” 

He nodded. “Yeah. Let’s go.”

Standing up, they made their way to the door. 

Adrien glanced at Marc and raised his hand in a goodbye. Marc grinned at him and raised his eyebrows at Marinette pointedly. 

Adrien rolled his eyes.

They were at the door, putting their coats on, when Chloe appeared out of nowhere, Kagami right behind her. “Are you leaving?” she pouted. 

“Yeah, we’re tired, and Adrien has a headache,” Marinette said. “But thanks for the party, Chloe. It was really fun.”

“Thanks for the pastries,” Chloe said. 

They smiled at each other, and Adrien thought of all those years ago when the two girls had hated each other. He smiled. This was better. 

“Bye, Adrien,” Kagami said. “Sorry we couldn’t hang out tonight.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Adrien said, leaning forward to wrap her into a hug. “It was nice to see you, even though you clearly didn’t want to hang out with me.”

She laughed, muffled by his shoulder, before pulling away from him to hug Marinette. They whispered to each other, just out of hearing, even for Adrien, before pulling apart. Adrien was surprised to see that Marinette’s face was red. 

Chloe just watched with a knowing expression on her face before nudging Marinette. “Go home,” she said. “I don’t want you in my apartment anymore.”

Marinette laughed and grabbed Adrien’s hand. “Bye, everyone,” she said. 

They left to a chorus of goodbyes from the remaining partygoers, ducking into the chill and dark of the evening. 

They walked home hand in hand, Adrien’s heartbeat gaining speed the closer they got to the apartment. 

Marinette unlocked the door and they walked in, shedding their coats and shoes. 

Reaching down and grabbing her heels, she sighed. “I’m so tired,” she said, walking towards her room. “How’s your head?” 

“Better,” he said, surprised at how much better he actually felt. “I guess I needed to be out in the cool air.” 

She nodded before disappearing into her room. “Good,” he heard her say through her door. 

Adrien flopped down onto the couch, leaning his head back, closing his eyes. 

“Are you going to tell her?” a tiny raspy voice asked right in his ear. 

Adrien sighed and waved his hand around his head. 

“Hey!” Plagg said indignantly. “You almost hit me.”

“Good,” Adrien said quietly. “You deserve it.”

“Deserve what?” 

Adrien opened his eyes and smiled at Marinette. She had changed into a big sweatshirt and leggings and was smiling easily at him, making her way over to sit next to him on the couch. 

“I was talking to myself,” he said, regretting, not for the first time, that Marinette didn’t know he was Chat Noir. 

“Well,” she said, leaning forward to wrap her arms around his waist loosely, “you deserve only good things, you know.” 

“Marinette,” he said softly as she leaned over to rest her head on his shoulder. 

“Yeah?” she asked. 

He glanced down. Her eyes were closed. “I…” His breath caught in his throat. “Um…”

She glanced up and pulled away. “You’re doing it again,” she said, eyebrows furrowing in concern. 

“Doing what?” he asked, breathing easier now that she wasn’t touching him. 

“Being weird.” 

He laughed, surprised. “Yeah.”

“You know I would do anything for you, right?” 

Adrien looked down at her, her eyes opened wide with concern, her face sweet and earnest as she looked at him. He swallowed. “Yeah,” he said. “Yeah, I know.” He took a deep breath. “Marinette, I have to tell you something, and then I have to ask you something, and I want to ask you not to freak out, because it’s really, really important and I don’t think I can get through it if… if you stop me.”

She visibly swallowed before nodding. “Okay. I have something to tell you, too, actually.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Yeah?” 

She nodded. “You first.”

“Okay.” His heart was pounding so loudly, he was sure she could hear it. “Here goes.” Reaching over to fiddle with his ring, he took a deep breath. “Plagg?” 

His small black kwami floated into view, carrying Adrien’s phone in his impossibly small arms, one of his obnoxious games playing on the screen. “Yes?” he asked. 

Adrien refused to look at Marinette’s face. “Um, say hi to my roommate and best friend, Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

“Pigtails,” Plagg said, almost politely. He set Adrien’s phone on the ground and hovered in front of Marinette’s face. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

Adrien glanced at Marinette, fear spiking in his chest. 

She was smiling softly as she reached over and rubbed Plagg’s head. “Nice to finally meet you, too,” she said quietly. 

Adrien frowned. 

“You’ve known I was here for a while, right?” Plagg asked. “I suspected when you started buying fancy cheeses.” 

“Yeah, I know Adrien hates cheese but he was always buying it, and it was disappearing, so I figured we… had a cat.” She grinned at Adrien. 

He felt his mouth drop open in surprise. 

“I appreciated it,” Plagg said. “Some people aren’t very polite about my eating habits.” He glared at Adrien. 

“Um…” Adrien started. 

“But, yeah, this idiot is Chat Noir,” Plagg said, “and he wants you to know because he’s filled with agony about keeping things from you since he’s so desperately in love with you. He’s always complaining, this one, when he could just say things and everything would work out.”

Adrien watched as Marinette’s eyes grew wider and her breath seemed to stop for a moment. Her eyes flicked over to his and he groaned. “Plagg…”

“It’s okay, kid.” Plagg turned and grinned at him. “Trust me. It’s going to work out.” 

And with that, Plagg disappeared. 

Marinette bit her lip as she met Adrien’s gaze. “Um…”

“How long did you know?” he whispered. 

“A few months,” she said. “I had suspected for a while, and then I saw you coming in through a window and…”

Adrien frowned. “I always lock my door when I go out as Chat Noir. You couldn’t have seen me come in through a window.”

She was quiet for a moment. “I saw you from outside.”

“What would you have been doing outside our apartment window? We don’t use that bank and…” Adrien stopped talking suddenly, squinting. “Um…”

A red kwami was floating in the air between them. “Hi!” she said cheerfully. “I enjoyed the ridiculous crushes and identity shenanigans for a while, but I’m tired and Plagg and I want to hang out openly, so… I’m Tikki. And I’ll let you talk.” She flew away, leaving Adrien with a stunned expression on his face. 

Marinette giggled. “Kitty,” she whispered. “Chaton. Close your mouth.”

Adrien abruptly did as she said, wincing when he bit down on his tongue a little bit. 

“You said you had something to tell me and something to ask me,” she said. “What did you want to ask me?” 

“Uh,” Adrien said, trying desperately to regain any sense of normalcy. He struggled to find any words, grasping for breath as he did so. “Um, uh.”

She giggled again. “Can I ask a question?” 

He nodded dumbly. 

“Do you still like Ladybug?”

Adrien frowned, withdrawing slightly from Marinette. “What? No,” he said, surprising himself with how serious he was. “No, of course not.”

Her expression fell slightly. “Wait, really?” 

He nodded. 

“Oh.” Marinette stood slowly. “Okay, then. Well, this has been fun, but I think I’m going to go to bed now.” 

Adrien reached out, catching her wrist as she moved past him. He slowly stood up, holding her gaze as he squeezed her wrist slightly before moving his hand down to hold hers. “Marinette, I don’t want you fake dating anyone anymore,” he said softly. 

“Oh,” she said. “Why not?” 

“Because I want the next relationship you’re in to be real.” He squeezed her hand, pulling her a little bit closer to him. 

“Oh?” A hint of a smile was forming on her face. 

“Yeah. With me.” He grinned suddenly. “Does that sound okay?” 

“But you don’t like Ladybug anymore,” she said, the smile dropping from her face in an instant. “That’s what you just said.”

“Oh! No, no, no,” he said. “No, I don’t like Ladybug anymore, because I moved on—to you.” 

Marinette’s eyes flew wide open as she gasped. “What? You like me more than Ladybug?” 

“Of course. You’re my best friend.”

Marinette laughed, causing Adrien’s grin to get a lot wider. “Oh.” 

“Oh.”

Adrien felt tiny claws on his back, pushing him a little bit. He frowned and looked over his shoulder. “Plagg? What are you doing?” 

His kwami floated up to eye level. “Trying to get you to kiss her already.”

“What?” Adrien asked, astonished. 

“Tikki and I have been watching you do this dance for, like, eight years and we’re tired of it,” Plagg complained. “Right, sugarcube?” 

An exasperated groan came from behind Marinette. “Don’t call me that!” There was a pause. “But yes.”

Marinette laughed and stepped closer to him. “We wouldn’t want to deprive our kwamis of the closure they deserve,” she said quietly. 

“No, we wouldn’t,” Adrien said, a smile spreading across his face. Leaning forward, he finally—finally!—kissed Marinette, the girl of his dreams. And it was wonderful. 

\---

“Hey, guys,” Adrien said, beaming as he walked up to the café where Alya, Nino, Chloe, and Kagami were waiting, hand in hand with Marinette. “How’s everyone today?” 

He and Marinette sat down at the two empty spots at the table. 

“Good,” Chloe said. “Obviously. Nothing’s changed since last week when we did this.”

“Or every week when we do this,” Kagami added. 

“But tell me how you two are,” Chloe said. She and Kagami both leaned forward. 

Adrien blinked, surprised. He tightened his grip on Marinette’s hand under the table. 

“I can’t tell,” Kagami said after a moment of silence. 

“They’re acting just like they always do,” Alya complained. She nudged Nino with her elbow. “What’s your diagnosis?” 

“Hm, I think they actually did it last night,” Nino said, studying Adrien and Marinette intently. He tapped his fingers on the table. “Chloe?” 

“Adrikins isn’t gushing enough,” Chloe said after thinking for a moment. “He’s a born romantic. If they had, you know, we would know about it.”

Adrien frowned and glanced at Marinette. “Do you know what they’re talking about?” 

She shrugged. “Sex?” 

Alya spit her drink out all over the table. “Sorry, sorry,” she mumbled, hastily mopping it up with her napkin. 

“No, we were talking about whether or not you two got together last night,” Chloe said, clearly frustrated. “Not sex.”

“Although, if you two did have sex, as your best friends, you’re obligated to tell us,” Kagami added. 

“Not here, though,” Nino said. “And not around me. I don’t want to know.”

“Oh, god, I do,” Alya said. 

Marinette was clearly trying not to laugh, her face schooled into a careful mask as she looked at her friends. “Adrien and I did not have sex last night.”

“Dang it,” Alya said. 

Nino rolled his eyes. 

“But we made out!” Adrien said, raising his hand. His grin got wider as Marinette reached up and gave him a high-five. 

The table exploded as Alya, Nino, and Kagami all started asking questions. 

Chloe just raised an eyebrow. “Knew it.”

**Author's Note:**

> Akdjdnskdk I can't write kisses .... so I just said "it was wonderful".... like a fool......


End file.
